It looks like even the craters on Mercury have heard of Bob Ross! The central peaks of this complex crater have formed in such a way that it resembles a smiling face. This image is oriented so north is toward Continue reading
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope offers an impressive view of the centre of globular cluster NGC 6362. The image of this spherical collection of stars takes a deeper look at the core of the globular cluster, which contains a high Continue reading
The NASA Mars Odyssey orbiter has resumed duty after switching to a set of redundant equipment, including a main computer, that had not be used since before the spacecraft’s 2001 launch. Odyssey relayed data to Earth late Sunday that it Continue reading
What has happened to Saturn’s moon Iapetus? Vast sections of this strange world are dark as coal, while others are as bright as ice. The composition of the dark material is unknown, but infrared spectra indicate that it possibly contains Continue reading
Why is this moon shaped like a smooth egg? The robotic Cassini spacecraft completed the first flyby ever of Saturn’s small moon Methone in May and discovered that the moon has no obvious craters. Craters, usually caused by impacts, have Continue reading
Saturn’s moon Titan turns out to be flatter than it should be. Two Cassini scientists have a new and unusual theory about what causes Titan to have the shape it has: weather. The moon hits your eye like a big Continue reading
The International Space Station (ISS) has completed an emergency maneuver to avoid possible collision with space debris, the Russian Mission Control Center said Thursday. The orbit of the ISS, corrected with the engines of the Progress M-16M cargo spacecraft docked Continue reading
A literal shot in the dark by imaging cameras on NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has yielded an image of a visible glow from Titan, emanating not just from the top of Titan’s atmosphere, but also – surprisingly – from deep in Continue reading
Studying planets around other stars will be the focus of the new small Science Programme mission, Cheops, ESA announced today. Its launch is expected in 2017. Cheops – for CHaracterising ExOPlanets Satellite – will target nearby, bright stars already known Continue reading